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Virgin Money signs deal for 28 St Andrew Square Edinburgh

New HQ established, largest property deal in Edinburgh since 2009

Virgin Money has today announced a deal making 28 St Andrew Square, one of Edinburgh’s most prestigious business addresses, its new Headquarters. It is the biggest City centre deal in Edinburgh since 2009.

The new premises will provide expansion opportunities for Virgin Money and will open for business in the summer.

Virgin Money will be recruiting up to 300 new people in Edinburgh as part of their plans to launch a bank capable of providing a real alternative for consumers.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, Chief Executive of Virgin Money said: “I am delighted to announce we have secured 28 St Andrew Square as our new Headquarters. It is another exciting step in our journey towards becoming a full service bank in the UK. We are planning to grow significantly in 2011 and needed a central location with good transport links.

“Scotland has a solid reputation for financial services and of course has highly talented and skilled people to help us grow the Virgin Money business. St Andrew Square fits the bill perfectly and will support our long term plans."

Jayne-Anne Gadhia added: “At Virgin Money we aim to make 'everyone better off' and I think this is great news for Edinburgh, great news for the financial sector, great news for jobs and great news for us. St Andrew Square has so much history and we will be looking to build upon that by delivering a bank that makes everyone better off for the generations to come”.

Style of Space – Grade A open plan city centre office accommodation, comprising two large office suites on second and third floors, together with a period suite of meeting rooms at first floor and further open plan and support space at lower ground.

Building Style – Grade A listed building

Term – 11.5 years until June 2022

About Virgin Money

Virgin Money is Virgin’s financial services arm and was established in 1995 as a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Norwich Union.

In 1997, Virgin Direct Personal Financial Services Limited launched The Virgin One Account, a joint venture with The Royal Bank of Scotland that offered the UK’s first current account mortgage direct to the retail market. In 2001, RBS bought out the Virgin Group’s stake in the joint venture.

Following an investment of £100m of new capital by WL Ross in April 2010, Virgin Money is 79% owned by Virgin Group, with 21% ownership by WL Ross.

Virgin Money’s business ambition is to make “everyone better off” – this philosophy underpins our approach to business by offering good value to customers, treating employees well, making a positive contribution to society and delivering a profit to shareholders.

Virgin has signed a five-year deal to be the official sponsor of the London Marathon, the biggest annual fundraising event in the world. The inaugural Virgin London Marathon was on 25 April 2010. Virgin Money, the financial services division of the Virgin Group is leading the London Marathon sponsorship with the ambition to help runners raise £¼ billion over 5 years and will use its infrastructure, online capability and financial expertise to deliver that through Virgin Money Giving.

Virgin Money has signed a three-year deal to be the official sponsor of Edinburgh’s ‘Fringe on the High Street’. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011 runs from 05-29 August. Tickets and information are available at www.edfringe.com